The Octave Day of
Christmas
By Colleen O’Sullivan
The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found
Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the
message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been
told them by the shepherds. And Mary
kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and
praising God for all they had heard and seen just as it had been told to
them. (Luke 2:16-20)
Piety
The Lord
bless you and keep you!
The Lord
let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
The Lord
look upon you kindly and give you peace!
(Numbers 6:24-26)
Study
I have
become a very old woman. Most of my friends
have already departed this life.
Thankfully, though, I still have John, who has always shown me the care
and affection of a loving son. I can’t
do much anymore; I get too tired.
Perhaps that is why so many days I spend hours just ruminating on all
that has happened over the years.
I shake my
head and laugh ruefully when I think of the girl I was the night those
shepherds came to share the message of the angels. How they gazed with wonder
and adoration at my new little baby Jesus!
For months,
I had had moments when I wondered if maybe I had just imagined the visit from
the angel Gabriel. After all, why would
God pick me to bear such a holy child? But
then I would glance down at my swelling belly and be jolted back to
reality. For whatever reason, God had
chosen me. I alternated between fear and
joy. My family couldn’t understand the
smiles they would sometimes see on my face.
They were still ashamed of what they thought I had done and how I had
dishonored them. They were relieved that
Joseph took me into his home, but I’m sure they wondered if he had lost his
senses.
My biggest
problem the night the shepherds came, however, was whether or not to believe
what they said. They claimed angels had appeared to them, saying my newborn son
was the Messiah, the long-expected One. Those
shepherds even called him their Savior as they knelt here in the hay. I remember wondering how a helpless infant was
going to save anyone.
That night
I was also concerned with keeping my baby warm and fed and safe. I shake my head as I look back. Warm and fed was sometimes a tall order, but
safe turned out to be impossible.
As the
years went by, I wondered what the angels’ words really meant. I wondered why Jesus didn’t get married and
fill our home with a daughter-in-law and lots of children. But now I see he was always destined for
something else. I worried when he told
me he was leaving home to do his Father’s bidding. In hindsight, I can see that preaching,
teaching, healing and, yes, even dying and rising are what he came into the
world to do.
I honestly
wanted to die when word came to me that my Jesus had been seized in the garden. I knew those in power wanted to kill
him. The next day as I stood watching my
son die, I had a hard time reconciling the long-ago shepherds’ message with
what was happening before my eyes.
“Trust,” I told myself. “Don’t
ever stop trusting God.” And three days
later my son stood before me, risen from the dead!
Trust in
God, trust in God’s goodness is what has sustained me in every circumstance in
my life. It will get me through these
final days of my life as well. That’s
been the secret all along. Trust.
Action
When I think of Mary, I think of someone with a huge heart - a heart
full of love for God and all God loves, a heart attuned to God’s voice, a heart
prepared to take in and reflect on what it hears, a heart that ever trusts in
God’s goodness.
On the threshold of this New Year, how would you describe the state of
your heart? Any changes you’d like to
make? Ask Mary to pray for you, because
she’s already completed the faith journey we’re on today.
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